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An Overview of GE-Hitachi's Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor
Author:	Abram, Tim
Co-Author(s):

The ESBWR, like its predecessor BWR plants, is of a direct cycle configuration with the turbines forming part of the reactor coolant circuit. Although the ESBWR passive safety systems are novel and will need careful examination, the simplicity of such systems may mean that they can be considered to be more reliable. Nevertheless, in terms of suitability for the UK market, several challenges remain: The UK has never licensed a BWR plant, and does not possess the same level of technical depth already available for PWRs. The reactor pressure vessel, whilst having a thinner wall section than that of PWRs, is considerably larger and exceeds the range of current experience. Core design is also more complex, reflecting a larger range of fuel enrichments and burnable poison loadings than is typical for PWRs, and fuel manufacture is also correspondingly more challenging, although vendors can point to a successful track record in both of these aspects. Perhaps even more challenging is the fundamental difficulty of all direct cycle plants: namely the transport of radioactivity from the core region directly to the turbines, and the consequent dose implications for maintenance operations. Modern BWRs offer a significant improvement over older plants in this respect, but there remains a small dose penalty relative to PWRs.

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Price:	£21.28 (£21.28 inc.)
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